SCHOLARSHIP First Recipient of the Barton Environmental Science Scholarship to be picked for Fall 2023

By Matt Beuermann ’23

that a scholarship was an appropriate thing,” Barton said.

Barton began working with Anna Reinsel, Ph.D. ’06 , Professor of Environmental Science and Department Chair, Roberta Leonard, Vice President for College Advancement, and Mario N. Marini ’91 , Director of Planned Giving, to discuss the logistics of the scholarship. Much of this process involved collecting enough money so the scholarship could ultimately be endowed.

“We had to have $20,000 to begin awarding scholarships,” Barton said. “Last year, at this time, I gave $10,000 to get it to the point of being endowed so that we could start. My daughter remarried in November, and they asked people to send money to the scholarship instead of presents.”

Now, after having raised the money, The Dr. Henry Barton Endowed Scholarship of $1,000 will be awarded annually to a student in the environmental science program at Thiel, who has a good attitude toward their studies and who shows promise in the field of environmental science. In the upcoming months, Reinsel will have the pleasure of selecting the first recipient of the scholarship for the Fall

2023 semester.

“I made the decision for the scholarship to go, not just based off need but to students in environmental science who have a passion for it and who are good students,” Barton said. Needs-based scholarships are a vital part of providing opportunities for Thiel students, Barton said, but she also wants Barton’s scholarship to be available to students regardless of need so they can be rewarded for their academic achievement.

Reinsel, who was a student of Barton during her undergraduate years at Thiel and a professor alongside him after she was appointed at the College, is excited about what the scholarship will do for the environmental science program and the students within it.

“Our department doesn’t have many scholarships specifically for our students, so I think that it’s amazing to be able to offer it to them,” Reinsel said. “I think we do have some amazing students go through our program, so it’s nice to be able to recognize them with an award.”

Not only will the Barton Scholarship give recognition to environmental science students at Thiel, but it will also continue Dr. Barton’s impact and legacy within the Thiel community. While the environmental science program was already established when he came to Thiel in 1979, he was able to change it, putting his personality and passion into it. Dr. Barton was a well-traveled, knowledgeable, and extremely passionate professor who brought his real-world experiences into the classroom, inspiring generations of students

“I am excited about the scholarship and about this article because I think The Bell will go to many students who he touched as a part of his career,” Barton said. “I know a couple of his students said they wanted to make an annual contribution.”

While it has been a long and involved process to get the scholarship to this point, Barton and her family know that it was well worth it.

“He was here for 40 years; it was a large part of his life, and of my life, and my children’s, and my grandchildren’s, so I think that it is a continuing presence, and he would be happy about that,” Barton said. “I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”